Before sending in the army‚ here's what Mbalula SHOULD do to tackle crime - ISS

11 October 2017 - 12:55 By Penwell Dlamini
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Police Minister Fikile Mbalula.
Police Minister Fikile Mbalula.
Image: Sunday Times

The deployment of the army in provinces with serious violent crimes will not fundamentally change the situation in the targeted areas‚ the Institute for Security Studies said on Wednesday.

Police Minister Fikile Mbalula indicated on Tuesday that he would use the SA National Defence Force to support the police in combating crime in Gauteng and the Western Cape.

Mbalula said the recent increase in violence and gang activities in the Western Cape and Gauteng were becoming a huge concern.

Therefore urgent steps‚ involving various departments‚ needed to be taken.

Gareth Newham‚ head of justice and violence prevention at the ISS‚ said the SANDF support is very short-term and specific.

“It does not address the fundamental problems that cause crime in these areas. You are not going to see the whole of the Western Cape or Gauteng becoming safe‚” he said.

“In the weeks after the operation you may find that the crime in that particular area might decline temporarily. But certainly the military is not going to make the whole province safer or change the factors contributing to crime.

“It is a high-visibility operation‚ which disrupts criminal activity in the area‚ allowing the police to confiscate firearms and make arrests in dangerous areas.”

Section 201 of the constitution states that only the president‚ as head of the national executive‚ may authorise the deployment of the defence force‚ in cooperation with the police service.

When the defence force is employed with the SAPS inside South Africa‚ the president must inform parliament promptly and provide reasons for the deployment. The president must also specify the place where the force is being deployed‚ the number of people involved and the expected duration of the operation.

In the past the army has been called on to support the police. One recent event was Operation Fiela‚ which was launched after a spate of xenophobic attacks in the country.

Newham explained the role of the army during police operations.

“What the military would do is to form a cordon around the area and not allow anybody to go in or out of the area until the police have thoroughly searched the area. The role of the SANDF is limited to that‚” he said.

Newham said the best way to deal with crime is to improve the performance of police.

“What needs to happen is that we need to fix the police‚ starting with the senior management. Over the last six years we have seen the police budget go up by 50% to the current budget of R87-billion … But in the last five years we have seen the deterioration of the crime intelligence … We have had an increase in budget but deterioration in police performance. This has provided space for an increase in organised crime‚” he said.

“If the minister really wants to make South Africa safer‚ he needs to make sure that he cleans the upper echelons of the SAPS. The National Development Plan clearly identifies the serious crisis of top management in the police as the root cause of poor police performance and the lack of public safety.”

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